1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of searching for a desired schema.
2. Description of the Related Art
Before medical documents such as a medical record and diagnostic imaging report were digitized, a user drew a schema (image representing the positional relationship of a disorder portion in the structure of the human body) by hand on a medical paper document. These days, digitization of medical documents is gradually spreading along with popularization of medical information systems including a hospital information system (HIS) and picture archiving and communication system (PACS). That is, diagnosis support apparatuses are coming into use. This apparatus can create electronic medical documents such as a medical record and diagnostic imaging report, which the user wrote by hand before. Further, the apparatus can communicate with other medical information systems.
When creating an electronic medical document, a user can relatively easily input a text with a keyboard. To draw a figure with an arbitrary shape, the user manipulates an input device such as a mouse or tablet to input the trace as line information. However, the user cannot easily draw a schema with a mouse or tablet because he needs to draw a human body structure with a complicated shape.
According to a technique disclosed in patent reference 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-318154), many schema templates (to be referred to as schema images hereinafter), which are schematic views of human body parts, are stored in an apparatus. The user can select a desired one of the stored schema images. This technique allows the user to easily create a schema by selecting a schema image and drawing a simple figure on the schema image to represent a disorder portion.
Patent reference 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-89645) discloses a technique of analyzing a captured image to select a corresponding schema image. By this technique, the user can attach a desired schema image to a medical document without selecting it.
Communication protocols dedicated to captured image data have been standardized to connect image diagnosis apparatuses, medical information servers, and medical information viewers manufactured by different manufacturers. An example of the protocols is DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine). The DICOM standard defines in detail the contents and data structure of medical information such as image information and patient information, the procedures to communicate medical information (i.e., the procedures to request services for save, extraction, printing, and inquiry of images), the interface, and the like. DICOM is becoming an international standard in the field of medical images today. For example, patent reference 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-287013) discloses a technique associated with a DICOM-compliant image communication method and apparatus.
The technique described in patent reference 1 has an effect of facilitating selection of a desired schema image by a user because a plurality of schema images are recorded hierarchically. However, as the number of recorded schema images increases, the user needs to do a cumbersome operation to select a desired schema image from them.
The technique described in patent reference 2 can automatically select a schema image based on analysis of a display image without selecting a schema image by a user. However, a schema image the user wants to attach to a medical document is not always uniquely determined from a captured image displayed by him. In particular, selection of a schema image does not reflect a portion to which the user pays attention on a captured image.